Advertising Industry Archive

Omnicom has done a U-turn on its attempt to delay payments to TV commercial producers until after clients pay the agency. The move is a possible indicator of Omnicom’s cash crisis. Under the current system, Omnicom agencies would front producers 50 percent of their fees before the shoot and then the other 50 percent afterward. Omnicom wanted to change that, to pay producers only after the...

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It is often said that WPP chief Martin Sorrell takes accounts at lowball rates and figures out how to make a profit later. That notion is writ large in WPP’s 2008 full year earnings report, out today. Revenues were up 9.7 percent to $13.5 billion but profit was down 9.9 percent to $934 million. How did WPP manage to make less profit on more business? By failing to keep its operating costs...

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Valassis may not be able to meet its debt obligations and its litigation against News America Marketing Group may “materially harm” the company, according to a filing with the SEC. The worst-case scenario? “Bankruptcy or liquidation,” the company says. The disclosure, in a 10-K filed on a March 3, paints a grim picture of a the direct mail giant; it is unable to raise...

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Burger chain Jack in the Box has redesigned its logo. The old one was a simple red box with a blobby, 1970s-style typeface. The new one, in two tones of red that give a 3D feel, screams “I have been professionally redesigned!” It was created by Duffy & Partners. The move comes during a comic campaign in which chain icon Jack has been in an advertising-induced coma after being...

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Abbott Labs has put its $70 million Humira ad account in review. The review follows a warning letter from the FDA about Humira’s advertising, which the government called “misleading.” The incumbent agency on the business is Harrison & Star, according to Adweek. The shop has had Humira since 2005, per Pharma Exec. When drug agencies are fired after a high-profile screwup,...

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CBS* chief Leslie Moonves gave an interview to Mediaweek in which he said that despite the recession and declining adspend he expects to get higher rates for his shows at the upfront. This notion — that as demand declines network prices will go up — is an interesting one because usually, when demand declines, suppliers have to lower their prices. (Demand is declining, BTW, see...

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Blockbuster halted trading in its stock — it was down to just 13 cents — and is exploring brankruptcy, according to Bloomberg. Which is bad news for DDB Worldwide, which just won Blockbuster’s ad account. True, the account was only $12 million in billings even before the bottom fell out. And DDB must have known that the ad budget would continue to be limited. Blockbuster has...

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Happy Corp CEO Doug Jaeger was fired by his client, the New York Museum of Modern Art, after he bragged about vandalizing MOMA’s subway ads. File this one under “Failing to understand the nature of the agency-client relationship.” MOMA hired Happy Corp to produce a subway ad campaign featuring 57 works from the museum to be displayed around Brooklyn’s Atlantic-Pacific...

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In the world of MDC Partners CEO Miles Nadal, everything only seems to go up. In his last conference call with investors, he predicted MDC’s revenues will rise in 2009 by 1-3 percent and profits will grow 3-6 percent. Could happen. But there’s another growing thing on MDC’s books, and that’s the value of “goodwill” that the holding company has written up as...

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The starkest picture yet of the effect of the recession on the advertising business emerged in Clear Channel Outdoor’s Q4 2008 earnings statement. CCO is one of those companies that gives a really detailed, easy-to-understand statement of its business — and they should be praised for their transparency. Unfortunately, once you look through the windows all you can see is the blood on...

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